The new iPhone 7 is more of a downgrade compared to its competitors. Well the new iPhone 7 and 7 plus was announced by Apple yesterday. What a disappointment, the casing is almost identical to the previous model.

There have been only minor upgrades in the processor and camera department in the iPhone 7 with the exception being the larger plus model that will now use dual lens technology. The 4.7 inch display size in the iPhone 7 is still small compared to its competitors and there is no oled display upgrade which most of its competitors are using in there hi end models. Instead Apple has decided to save money and use the cheaper led display technology which is inferior due to it being backlight driven opposed to pixel driven. They have also dropped the headphone jack which is a downgrade in my opinion. Now you will need a special adapter to use your headphones. Its probably a good business move for them so you can buy there bluetooth enabled ear phones called ‘AirPod’ headphones that cost £159 in the UK and $159 in the US.

Its now been 3 years since they have offered a major upgrade any other company would not have got away with it.

The iPhone 7 will be more subtly different than what most bloggers claim. The the difference will be different in subtle ways. Even though it may have a similar casing to the previous model this model will most likely differ in these ways:-

There will be two model on offer iPhone 7 Plus/Pro that will both feature higher resolution displays (possibly 1080p on the iPhone 7 and 2K on the Pro version). The casing will be thinner due to the headphone jack being removed also the new iPhones are likely to offer a 256gb storage option. The processor will most likely be a faster and more powerful next-generation Apple processor. The camera will also be improved, you will see a vast improvement in the quality of the night shots that will most likely rival the Samsung s7. The new pro version will possibly feature a dual camera that will most definitely outshine the Samsung’s Galaxy S7 camera. There will also be a possible colour on offer too that will feature Space Black version.

A iphone 6c that comes with a 4 inch display is possible later on in the year.With the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus iPhone Apple has made the long-awaited step toward larger displays. But there is a considerable minority of users that are dissatisfied with the new display sizes. There are enough users to warrant 4-inch display. Its worth noting that last years iPhone 5s does simply lye better in the hand. Currently there are conflicting rumours around to whether or not they are going to make the device or not.

On the 6th of January evidence emerged that apple is not working on another 4-inch iPhone. According to a website called Feng, sources within Apple’s supply chain have made it clear that Apple have not made “any new production tasks” related to a 4-inch device. However an earlier report in December states that they are indeed going to produce a 4 inch iphone, this is according to a Taiwanese parts manufacturer. The source was initially also credited on a website called Feng. More information regarding this debate to whether or not they are going to release the 4 inch version can be found on Appleinsider,Macworldand gforgames.

If demand is sufficiently large and Apple can realize that even a small screen can achieve great things for the user, it will most probably release the iphone mini after September 2015. Steve Jobs did think that the four inch version was perfectly adequate when he was alive, but it remains to be seen whether or not he would have took the same view today.

There is likely to be two models which will come with larger screens that will be either 4.7 or 6 inches in size. It is rumoured the size is increasing due to the competition having mostly larger screens. Also the screens could come with an edgeto edge display that could be made out of sapphire glass that will make the screen almost impossible to scratch.

The current rumours have also suggested that the camera is going to stay at 8mp. But there will be improvements in its image stablising processing and it light sensors that will make night shots even less grainy.

The Australian blogger Sonny Dickson claims that the iPhone 6 will also be only 5.6 millimeters thick and will have an ultra-retina display with a pixel density of 389 ppi. This would be a significant improvement over the iPhone 5s. In addition he claims that the new A8 processor will be clocked at 2.6 GHz, tweeted Dickson. The Australian blogger has been quite accurate in the past with his predictions.

The processor of the next iPhone 6 (“iPhone Air”) will probably still be manufactured by Samsung. However its worth noting that the contract between Samsung and Apple is now over reports ZDNet Korea. The A8 processor for the Apple iPhone 6 is likely to have a 64-bit chip architecture and 2GB of RAM.

Finally according to the latest rumours, the release date is likely to be either September or October as its been for a few years now.

Tactus who are a company who manufacture phone cases have aleaked image of what appears to be an iPhone with a polycarbonate body. They claim to have captured it at a factory in China that provides parts for principle Apple manufacturer called Foxconn.

It seems to have a resemblance of the older 3g and 3gs models, but it looks taller with a flatter back. It also reportedly to be taller, wider and thicker than the iPhone 4 and 4S versions.

The polycarbonate body will undoubtedly lower the manufacturing costs. If this leaked photo is true then Apple could be on to a winner, because Apple urgently needs a budget model out to compete in the middle end of the market.

Other rumours have suggested that the next iPhone model will come in various colours and will come packed with ios 7 which will be a much needed update to the ageing ios software.

There have been reports around that is hinting that the iPhone 5S could be launched as early as the 1st half of 2013 along with many other apple products.

This news comes from China Times via the website 9to5Mac who cites industry sources claim that Apple will release the iPhone 5S next year, along with a new iPad which possibly could be the mini iPad with the retina display and “iTV” hardware, which could be an updated version of it’s Apple tv box.

It seems more than likely that Apple has reduced its produce cycle to 6 months. Evidence of this come with the newly released iPad 4 which was released in November, which was only 6 months after the iPad 3 was released with a retina display. Apple have probably decided to do this, because it has been seen to be falling behind on innovation. This approach will give them more opportunity to catch up with the opposition out there such as Samsung, who are rumoured to be releasing the Galaxy S4 around April in 2013.

Apple has responded to the iPhones 5’s camera purple camera halo issue, according to Gizmodo an AppleCare rep told a customer in an email that:

“Our engineering team just gave me this information and we recommend that you angle the camera away from the bright light source when taking pictures,”

“The purple flare in the image provided is considered normal behaviour for iPhone 5’s camera.”

Publicly they have vowed to look into this issue.

It seems that Apple don’t want to admit there is a problem at the moment. But there obviously is, because when you compare it with other rival phones, you don’t often get this issue. For example the Samsung Galaxy S3 did not seem to suffer much from this issue at all. Although it’s important to note that flaring can happen from time to time on any optical device when taking a photo near to a bright object, but it should not happen as frequent as it should like it dose on the iphone 5’s camera.

Apple seem to be doing the same thing as what they did over the iPhone 4’s antenna issue, that is first denying there is a problem and admitting there was a problem and then offering a solution to the issue. Expect in the next few months either a product recall if it relates to the new Sapphire Crystal lens cover or a software update if the problem is software related.

Is the iPhone 5 worth the upgrade, the answer is yes and no. If you want a faster phone, 4g, a larger screen in a lighter and thinner form factor then go for it. But if you want to make use of NFC technology and connect it to your tv , then don’t go for the upgrade. Even the 4g option is not available for certain networks around the world, due to the phone not being able to receive all the 4g frequencies around the world. People who want these extra features will have to wait until next September or October for the iPhone 5S to come out. It worth pointing out that Apple is bringing out a special hdmi adapter that will bring tv out functionality to the phone in a couple of months. Its also possible once there is a jailbreak option for the phone, there will be a jailbreak solution that will enable you to use an existing 30 pin hdmi adapter with the new lightning port adapter.

Some commentators have said the new iPhone 5 is just a longer version of the iPhone 4S, but it’s obviously much more than that. If people choose to upgrade it will be a simply a subjective choice based on what they want to do with the phone, if a person wants to make use of NFC technology and use the phone with a sd card and for internet browsing then go for the Samsung Galaxy s3, due to the extra real estate on the screen and the other extra features it has.

More new images of the rumoured iPhone 5 are released ahead of apples Septemeber 12 event.

Most of these new photos that have emerged recently seem to indicate that the new model is coming with a 4 inch 16:9 screen a new smaller 9 pin dock connector and a longer form factor, other specifications are not as certain to be included in the new iPhone. Some rumours have suggested that the phone could come with NFC technology and 4g technology, however even if they include 4g in the phone it is not known if the phone will work or not in the UK due to the US using a different frequency range for its 4g services.

Anyway we don’t have much time to wait now to see whether any of these rumour are true. Be prepared to see a few surprises thrown in Apple are good a keeping secrets. If most of these rumours turn out to be true then the new iPhone will probably become the best selling phone in history. It will easily be more popular than Googles current flagship phone the Galaxy s3, due to the form factor and the software it runs on.

The leaked images emerged from a website called UBreakIFix by the way of BGR. However these images appear to be a little stretched, thus raising doubts about the authenticity of the pictures. However most of the rumours coming out appear to back up the claims of these photos that indicate that the device is going to be longer and have a 4 inch screen. But it worth pointing out that there are no guarantees that Apple will implement these rumours. We learnt this lesson the hard way when Apple released the iPhone 4s back in October which was a completely different phone to what was anticipated.

If these pictures are authentic then it confirms that the iPhone 5 is now production ahead of its much anticipated announcement on September 12th. The good news is that we don’t have much time to wait to see if all the rumours coming out are true or not.